Plastic lures for sport fishing are known in a variety of embodiments. There are, for example, so-called "wobblers," which are plastic imitations of fish to which one or more fishhooks can be secured. It is also known to impale a dead bait fish, soft rubber fish, or twister onto a spear as bait. This embodiment has the advantage over the wobbler that the dead bait fish and soft rubber fish move in the water and are thus fairly realistic.
A disadvantage of the use of lures made of plastic is that they generally float on water and must be weighted with lead weights in order to sink. The exact immersion depth is, however, almost impossible for the fisherman to ascertain, so that only in rare cases is the lure suspended at the depth which it should assume when fishing for specific species of fish.
It is therefore the object of the invention to configure an artificial lure arrangement of the type cited initially in such a way that the water depth at which it assumes a suspended state can easily be adjusted.
This object is achieved, according to the invention, by the fact that the basic body is configured as a hollow body; and the cavity of the basic body can be filled from the outside, through at least one closable opening, with a liquid or the like in order to adjust the density of the basic body.
According to the invention a hollow body is thus used which has a density such that it floats on the water or is suspended in the vicinity of the water's surface, but by being filled with, for example, water can be weighted so that it sinks. By appropriate selection of the quantity added, it is thus possible to adjust, practically without limitation, the water depth at which the artificial lure arrangement ultimately assumes its suspended state.
In this context, provision is advantageously made for the fill level of the hollow body to be readable from outside; preferably a scale is provided which indicates a water depth, corresponding to the fill level, at which the artificial lure arrangement assumes its suspended state. This feature gives the fisherman the possibility of adjusting the immersion depth of the lure fairly exactly in accordance with the type of fish he would like to catch and the depth of the body of water.
The opening is preferably closable by means of a plastic stopper. It is also possible, however, to use a screw closure.
Preferably the basic body is filled using a syringe, for example a 10- or 20-ml syringe as is common in the medical field, by means of which the fill level can be adjusted very precisely. For this purpose, the opening has a diameter of no more than 5 mm.
In order to allow the basic body to be easily emptied again, in an embodiment of the invention provision is made for openings to be provided on opposite sides of the basic body that are opened for emptying of the cavity, so that the liquid can be drained out through one opening while air flows in through the other opening.
Advantageously, the basic body is configured so that it assumes a substantially defined position in the water; this can be achieved, for example, by means of an appropriate weight distribution or by arranging fins or flippers or a paddle. A chamber for receiving an attractant can then be arranged in the upper region of the basic body. From this chamber there leads outward an opening which is so small that water cannot enter the chamber when the basic body is immersed in water, but attractants that have been introduced through the opening into the water can emerge underwater, so that predatory fish, in particular, can be attracted.
The basic body can be configured as a hollow wobbler onto which multiple fishhooks are or can be secured.
Alternatively, it is possible to attach a spear element onto the hollow basic body and to impale in a manner known per se onto said spear element, which can in particular be equipped with barbs, a dead bait fish, rubber fish, twister, or the like. In the latter case the spear element is preferably joined movably to the basic body by means of a swivel, as a result of which the lure arrangement moves in the water like a living fish. In this context the basic body is advantageously configured as a fish head, the eyes of which are constituted by the openings.
In an embodiment of the invention, provision is further made for an orifice to be configured in the basic body through which can be guided that end portion of the fishing line on which a fishhook can be or is attached. This embodiment has the advantage that the basic body is not stressed by a large fish.